Why the
Amazon Rain Forest is special
The Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil and Peru is immense (it's larger than Europe). The 6280 kilometer (3900 mile) long Amazon River is fed by a thousand rivers - some over 1600 kilometers (1000 miles) long.
Getting around the Amazon
Green Hell, as the Amazon jungle is called, is thick and dissected by numerous snaking rivers, so its road network is limited. Watercraft and occasionally small airplanes are usually the best means of transportation.
Planning your trip
Be sure your itinerary lets you explore the small Amazon tributary streams and trails. Although "cruising down the Amazon" is a popular childhood dream, in reality the view from the deck of a passenger ship soon becomes monotonous. You get a bored dèjá vu feeling as the river and its banks remain virtually unchanged for days on end.
Biologically rich
Hundreds of thousands of plant and animal species (many unique) inhabit the Amazon Rain Forest. Three million people now live here.
Environmental concerns
The vast Amazon Rain Forest is vital to life around the world. It is our planet's chief oxygen generator. Greenpeace, an environmental organization, warns that if deforestation continues at the present clip, the Amazon forests will be nearly gone in 80 years.
What leading travel books say about the Amazon Rain Forest
In the Amazon, adventures can still happen and the exotic reigns.
South America
Insight Guides
There is a mystical attraction to the Amazon region.
South America
Fodor's
The Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil and Peru is immense (it's larger than Europe). The 6280 kilometer (3900 mile) long Amazon River is fed by a thousand rivers - some over 1600 kilometers (1000 miles) long.
Getting around the Amazon
Green Hell, as the Amazon jungle is called, is thick and dissected by numerous snaking rivers, so its road network is limited. Watercraft and occasionally small airplanes are usually the best means of transportation.
Planning your trip
Be sure your itinerary lets you explore the small Amazon tributary streams and trails. Although "cruising down the Amazon" is a popular childhood dream, in reality the view from the deck of a passenger ship soon becomes monotonous. You get a bored dèjá vu feeling as the river and its banks remain virtually unchanged for days on end.
Biologically rich
Hundreds of thousands of plant and animal species (many unique) inhabit the Amazon Rain Forest. Three million people now live here.
Environmental concerns
The vast Amazon Rain Forest is vital to life around the world. It is our planet's chief oxygen generator. Greenpeace, an environmental organization, warns that if deforestation continues at the present clip, the Amazon forests will be nearly gone in 80 years.
What leading travel books say about the Amazon Rain Forest
In the Amazon, adventures can still happen and the exotic reigns.
South America
Insight Guides
There is a mystical attraction to the Amazon region.
South America
Fodor's